A Most Interesting Tale
by Zlitzen321
Summary: A litle bit of episode-switcharoo-fun, and we have a sorceress for Merlin! However, magic is still hated in Camelot; will Amiria and Merlin prevail in bringing peace to the kingdom, or will they too fall? Set during season 3 MerlinxOC  Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**A few things must be explained before the start of this story. Firstly, Gaius is not Merlin's uncle (that part never made any sense to me, so in my world, it doesn't happen) he was a friend of Balinor, Merlin's father, who kept in contact with Hunith after Balinor had to leave. Secondly, I am rearranging some of the episodes, so in my season 3, episodes 1&2 "The Tears of Uther Pendragon (Parts 1&2)" are followed by "Love in the Time of Dragons", (Alice's episode! :-) and all of the other episodes following the original timeline. Thirdly, Alice is a few years younger, for reasons later explained. Either way…Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own a temperamental computer and lots of homework, and if I owned Merlin, then I would treat myself to a ski vacation in France. As of yet, my butt rests in the South, completely snowless…**

**A Simple Truth**

"_I will send word to you soon; there is something I must show you. Good bye my love." _

Alice's words had bounced around in Gaius' head for the past month. What could she possibly have to show him that they hadn't talked about during her stay in Camelot? Hopefully not some other dangerous creature that would try to take over the kingdom; that would be decidedly bad. He thought of the letter received a mere three days before, telling him to come to the little cottage where they would go looking for lavender and mint, before Alice was exiled from the city. The matter at hand must have been a pressing one, if she would risk coming relatively close to the city after her previous encounter with the palace, and the King.

'Crack' 'snap' "AH!" Gaius was shaken from his musings by the clumsiness of his young apprentice, Merlin.

A muffled but cheerful, "I'm okay, don't worry!" sounded from the forest floor, "Just a tree root."

"I sometimes wonder how you've survived this long without permanently injuring yourself or someone else" Gaius mumbled under his breath.

"Hey, I heard that!" said a dirty, but upright Merlin. "Where are we going anyways?"

"To collect some more burdock, for the King's remedy"

Merlin was quite perplexed, not only had he just recently restocked the herb cabinets, this was not the direction that Gaius usually had him go. Something else was going on here, and he was determined to quiz Gaius about it as soon as they reached their destination, wherever it was. Hopefully this wasn't some sort of revenge the old man had concocted for the Goblin Incident, Merlin had a feeling there was more punishment to come as far as that particular adventure was concerned.

"Aha, here we go!" There was a small cottage, made of grey stone and possessing a straw roof; not very different from the ones that were in Merlin's village.

The two men called out in greeting as they approached and a young woman, two to three years younger than Merlin stuck her head out of one of the windows.

"Good morning to you sirs!" and pulling herself back inside of the house, "Alice, the visitors have arrived!"

"Wonderful dear, invite them inside" came the reply from the back of the house, presumably where Alice was picking herbs.

"Hello there, I'm Amiria. You would be…?"

Merlin and Gaius stood still staring at the young woman in front of them, though for totally different reasons.

Merlin saw a small, pretty woman, with blonde hair down to her waist and unsettling green eyes. Lovely in her own right, but definitely not one of the classical beauties.

Gaius saw a girlish version of Alice, from many more years ago than he cared to think about. Something about the way she held herself, and the way she looked at you, as if discovering the inner workings of your soul, reminded him of his beloved.

Amiria, for her part, was wondering why two fully grown men were staring at her as if incapacitated, and decided to break the silence before the situation became more awkward than it already was.

"I haven't got spinach stuck in my teeth, have I?" This seemed to have done the trick, as both observers shook their heads "no" and followed her into the house, sitting on the little chairs around the wooden table.

She returned to the soup that she had previously been tending to. "So you both work in Camelot, correct?"

Merlin answered first, "Yeah, Gaius works as Court Physician and I am his assistant, as well as the servant to his royal pratness the Great Pr- ow!" he was abruptly cut off by a quick kick of the shins, courtesy of Gaius.

Amiria laughed, "Glad to see that I'm not the only one who has problems pleasing my instructor" she said with a pointed look out of the window. "So, you never told me who you were"

"I am Gaius, as I am sure you already suspect," answered the aged scholar "and this young chap is Merlin"

Merlin flashed a goofy smile, which Amiria couldn't help but notice was quite cute, even when framed by those _huge_ ears.

"I see you've finished the introductions, patinho?"

"Yes, sabio, of course; I've also finished the soup." The quick exchange between Alice and her apparent student revealed a tender sort of love, akin to that of mother and daughter, very similar to the relationship between Gaius and Merlin. There was sadness about the exchange though, as if the two women were longing to hear a title that they knew would never be spoken.

"Very well then," said Alice, snapping out of her reprieve, "let us eat"

Merlin would never remember much of what was said during the awfully awkward supper, there was little conversation to be had, to be honest. The two lovers were staring at each other between their bites of soup and the two apprentices looked everywhere but at each other, blushing when their eye's met and hurriedly looking away.

After everyone had eaten, Amiria stood to take the bowls to wash them when Alice suddenly spoke.

"Why don't you let me take care of those, dear? You can take Merlin here to get us some more juniper?"

"But we just picked some-"the words died on Amiria's lips at her mentors gaze, which clearly said '_Do what I say and don't ask questions, or else.'_

"Well then, Mr. Merlin, I suppose we should go find ourselves some juniper!" and with that Amiria strode confidently to the door, stopping only when the cloak she had intended to grab in one smooth motion got stuck on the peg it was resting on.

Merlin couldn't help himself, though he really did try; but the clumsy and foolish do find it awfully amusing when suddenly _they_ aren't the ones being clumsy and foolish, and he started laughing. Not even mild little chuckles, but great huge guffaws that had him doubled over with a bright red face. He was laughing so hard that Alice and Gaius couldn't help but laugh a little (okay, a lot) too.

Amiria, by this time very humiliated and quite red herself, was finally able to pull her stubborn over garment off of the peg and march outside. The echo of laughter ringing in her hot ears, she almost missed the call of the initiator of her embarrassment.

"Amiria! Hey, Amiria, wait up!" Head down and hood up, she kept on walking.

"Amiria," he was right behind her now, "I'm sorry about that, back there. Trust me, I know how that feels, but you were giving this impression that 'I'm completely unfazed by anything' and it was funny to see you break that whole…routine?" he finished awkwardly.

She finally turned around to look at this strange boy that had arrived in her temporary house, presumably to upend her life and make it miserable, again. However, in that moment she was shocked by brilliantly blue eyes, both innocent and sad, as if the weight of the world was held in them; in those eyes there was hope, promise, faith, love and a deep stubbornness that Amiria immediately knew would cause problems between the two of them.

"'I'm completely unfazed by anything' routine? That's the best that you've got?" The eye gazing moment now over, Amiria smacked Merlin over the head and shook her own before turning to continue walking towards the dark and looming forest.

"Women" Massaging his head, Merlin followed after her.

Back at the cottage, Gaius and Alice were in an odd state of discomfort, waiting for the other person to start talking, until Gaius couldn't hold in his curiosity any longer.

"So who is she anyways? The girl."

"Amiria, oh, well she's my apprentice I suppose. Though that is one of the reasons I asked you to come here today."

"One of the reasons?" Questioned Gaius, quirking his eyebrow.

"Yes, one of them. I want you to take her into Camelot, teach her all you know. The Powers That Be know that I have tried my hardest, but some of the finer nuances of magical theory and principles escape me, and she wants to know everything. Since she was a little child, always asking questions; What are stars? Where do they come from? Why is there one sun? What could happen if there were two? And so on. There were times when I wished she would find someone else to bother, but she is my-"

Suspicions aroused by circumstances and similarities, Gaius stood waiting as Alice stirred the soapy water to wash the dishes around in the large cleaning pot, purposefully avoiding his gaze.

"What I mean to say is- she is magical, more than I, though less than Merlin. I suppose that arose from the circumstances surrounding her birth. I asked you to come here today to tell you to say that the spells and potions worked. Amiria is your daughter.

**Soooooooo, how was it? Are we hauling out the tomatoes? Or can I live? I have vague ideas about where this is going, but I don't know how often I will be able to update, as I am a full time student :/ Anywho… tell me what you thought! Drop me a review, if you have the time, it would really help to know what everyone else thinks of a story I think is absolutely perfect (That was sarcastic, I can find a million and one things wrong with my poor mutant baby of a story, but I love it anyways! 3) Also, thoughts on Amiria, love her? Hate her? Feel free to tell me! -Zlitzen321**


	2. Chapter 2: No Longer a Stranger

**A huge, huge, huge, huge, HUGE thank you to **Death Knight of Camelot **and **prettydawn, **y'all totally made my day :D**

**Disclaimer: I own a temperamental computer and lots of homework, and if I owned Merlin, then I would treat myself to a ski vacation in France. As of yet, my butt rests in the South, completely snowless…**

**No Longer a Stranger**

"So tell me, what do you think about Camelot? What's it like there? Is it really as grand as everyone says it is?"

"I, um… It's nice, I like living there. Never a dull moment," Merlin was studiously studying the leaves of the plant he was picking, avoiding Amiria's direct gaze "smells awful though. You would think that a city of Camelot's size would find some sort of efficient plumbing system."

Amiria laughed, "I've been to large towns before, but never anything as large as Camelot, though I wish I could. I love large places, the hustle and bustle of the market, the dozens of shops...I still can't believe that Alice went without me."

"So why did she?" Merlin asked. This had been bothering him ever since he and Gaius had arrived at the cottage; Amiria seemed very close to Alice, why would she have been left behind?

"The original plan was for Alice to go into the city, and I would come once she sent word for me. 'Twas the strangest thing, I usually go into a city first, if we have to go in separately at all."

"Do you think it was the influence of the…you know…"

"Manticore? No, we had made plans to visit Camelot long before we met up with the Manticore. I told Alice that the whole deal with that…creature," she spat out the word "was not a good idea, but who listens to their apprentice I wonder? People other than the foolish old women who get possessed by evil-demon animals, that's who"

Merlin chuckled at the exasperation in Amiria's voice, stopping when she raised an eyebrow at him in a vaguely familiar way that he couldn't quite place…

"I suppose that you've had this discussion before, then?"

"A few times…maybe," Amiria blushed and seemed to deflate a little "Alice is always telling me to watch my tongue, that it might start running and the rest of me will have no choice but to be dragged along with it."

Merlin stood up and looked down on the spunky little blonde, realizing that the top of her head barely brushed the top of his shoulder. "I definitely know how that feels, but if you were talking to Gaius, he would say something very similar. Though it would probably be about my brain, I have a very nasty habit of not thinking things through."

Now it was Amiria's turn to laugh at the gangly young man in front of her, absentmindedly noticing that he was extremely cute, especially with those ears.

"Have you lived in Camelot your whole life?" she asked, returning to her prior line of inquiry.

"Erm, no, I grew up in a town called Ealdor. It's a tiny farming village, just outside of Uther's kingdom; and by tiny I mean," he held his pointer finger and thumb together for emphasis "really tiny. What about you?"

"To the best of my knowledge, somewhere in Caerleon, but I don't think I'll ever know for sure. Alice refuses to talk about anything before my second birthday, and if she doesn't want to talk about something, it isn't talked about."

"Speaking of Alice, what do you think she and Gaius are up to?"

"I don't know, you don't think that they led us all the way out here for some sort of ron-de-vous do you?"

"Blech, bad images!" Merlin shook his head repeatedly "They won't go away!"

Amiria made a face, "Yuck, this is not good for my head. Why did you have to go and make an innocent statement nasty?"

"You're the one who said it, not me!"

"Well, I didn't mean - touché" collecting her shards of dignity, Amiria knelt down to collect more mint leaves.

"Did you hear something?"

"What was that Merlin?"

"I said, did you hear…something…" standing behind Amiria was a huge wolf, quite larger than any wolf Merlin had ever seen before and looking very hungry.

"Amiria, there is a wolf, standing right behind you. Now, can you try to move this way?" Merlin the young and dorky apprentice had gone, leaving Merlin the confidant and in-control sorcerer in his place. However the opposite could be said for Amiria, as she stood quaking on the ground, frozen.

"Amiria," Merlin tried to coax her gently, not letting his growing concern show in his voice.

"I-I can't- I can't move," her breaths now coming in short gasps, Amiria looked on the verge of tears. "Make it go away Merlin, p-please?" her voice cracked on the last word, and Amiria hated how weak she sounded, but couldn't make herself move, not even an inch.

Merlin, very conscious of the quickly approaching predator, was having a huge internal debate. Should he use magic to scare away the wolf, or should he try some other method and potentially provoke the wolf further? Time was running out, '_decide Merlin, your secret or her life' _he had to choose, as the wolf crept closer he spoke; "Soprar o vento para lonxe de min"

An invisible wind-like force swept up the creature and deposited it hundreds of meters away from where Merlin and Amiria were.

Still not believing that he had just revealed his magic to someone he barely knew, Merlin was now the one frozen, as Amiria slowly stood up.

"Well, that was...interesting. I guess Alice wasn't lying about the most powerful sorcerer in hundreds of years living right under the king's nose. Do tell me how you keep it hidden, very few people would be able to believe on first sight that you possess such power."

She seemed to be recovering quickly, but Merlin wondered if she really was okay, her still shaking hands a give-away to her fear."

"Are you not scared of me then?" Merlin asked, feeling very wary of the whole situation, though Amiria's falsely chipper attitude was making him feel better.

"As long as I'm not on the recieving end of that blow, I think I'll manage. You forget that Alice drabbles in the art of magic, and as her apprentice, I do too. My powers are no match for yours though."

"Your powers?"

"Yes, for as long as I can remember, the magic has...spoken to me. It whispers in my ear, telling me secrets about herbs and healing incantations that Alice says are hundreds of years old and often long forgotten. She said that it was a special gift, that I should be careful who I tell and never tell a stranger I only recently met, which I just did. Oh no! She's going to kill me"

Merlin had to laugh, "We're even, I think you just joined the very elite group of those who know my secret. Some of my best friends don't even know that I am what I am." As he finished, he sat dejectedly on a rock, hating the lies and cover-ups needed to ensure that Arthur would fulfill his destiny as Camelot's greatest king.

"Hey," Amiria laid one small hand on his arm, and forcing him to look at her with the other. "I know what it's like, to not be allowed to be yourself, and it sucks. But, the truth will come out one day, magic will be restored to Camelot and people like us will be allowed to live in peace. You have to believe in that future until the day it comes true, and I know it will. Especially with you so close to the Prince, things will get better."

Getting lost in his deep blue eyes, Amiria didn't hear the thunder until the raindrops landed on Merlin's nose. Breaking himself out of a similar trance, Merlin suggested that they head back before they were missed and Amiria quickly nodded in agreement.

As they were walking out of the woods, she said on impulse, "You know, after everything today, I don't think we're strangers anymore."

"If we're not strangers, then what are we?" Merlin inquired, wondering what this girl could possibly have up her sleeve.

"Friends. And as a friend, I want to thank you, for back there with the wolf. I'm not usually so scared of animals, but wolves are another story so…thanks." and with that Amiria gave Merlin a quick, only kind of awkward hug. The pair let go as soon as was appropriate, and both turned bright tomato-red.

"Don't worry about it." He was going to say more, but the little cottage was up ahead and the rain was falling harder now. "Let's hurry up and get inside"


	3. Chapter 3: Decisions

**Disclaimer: I own a temperamental computer and lots of homework, and if I owned Merlin, then I would treat myself to a ski vacation in France. As of yet, my butt rests in the South, completely snowless…**

**Decisions**

"Please, Gaius. You need to know her, just as she needs to know you." Alice looked imploringly at her old lover, taking his hand in her own. "She will love Camelot and be a wonderful asset to you and Merlin. It will only be for a few months, I just need to…sort some things out before I'll feel comfortable teaching her again. Please."

From the beginning of their acquaintance, all those years ago, Alice's quite "pleases" would always guarantee her success in getting what she wanted. Gaius had only said no once, during the Great Purge; she had begged him, in a similar fashion to which she was begging now, to come with her and leave Camelot forever.

Though Gaius would be lying if he said he had agreed without pause (the thought of another Merlin was quite unnerving) he knew that this was the best and only solution.

"Alright, alright. I will take her back to Camelot, but for her own sake, she must not be aware of her relationship to me. It will cause too many questions that could be dangerous for her, Merlin and myself."

Alice nodded, and looked out of the window.

"I never even told her I was her mother. She was born on the Isle of the Blessed; Nimueh was the only one who witnessed her birth. She wanted Amiria to stay on the Isle to become a priestess, but I could see the insanity in Nimueh's eyes and soul, fighting for control. When I told her that I wouldn't leave unless I was leaving with Amiria, she became very angry and we had to escape in the night. I changed our names, and our relationship; an old woman with a daughter that young would be remembered, an aunt or grandmother with their young niece or granddaughter would not. Eventually, it became what she accepted as the truth." She closed her eyes, fighting for control of her emotions. "Here they come, quickly, open the door."

"Alice, we got the herbs you wanted." Shouted Merlin as he and Amiria stumbled through the door, shaking water all over the front part of the cottage.

"Lovely, put them on that shelf over there and find something to dry yourself off with, there's enough work to do around here without any help from you. Amiria, come sit down by the fire, Gaius and I have something we want to discuss with you."

'_This isn't right! Why won't Alice let me come with her? Did I do something? No, but she did. Then why is she pushing _me_ away? It doesn't make any sense. Why-'_

"Amiria."

'_There he is again_, _why won't he just leave me alone?'_

"I know you don't want to talk to me right now, but please, you have to look at this from Alice's point of view."

"I'm listening"

Gaius sat down on the little bed next to Amiria, watching her face as she stared at the nearby candle. So much of her was like Alice, he mused, but on further inspection, she looked almost identical to his mother; it was strange, how family worked.

"She sees the incident with the Manticore as a failure to her teachings and her character." Gaius began softly, "You can't blame her for feeling this way, even if you believe that she's wrong in doing so. Alice has not led an easy life; you know that, however, you seem forget sometimes that this is simply her way of coping with a world that has not dealt her a favorable hand."

"By running away."

"If you wish to put it that way, I suppose. But I believe the more accurate description, or at least the one she would use, is that she's 'removing herself from the situation so as to better evaluate the pro's and con's of each side'." Gaius smiled, "Alice is a good woman, and a good mentor; despite her faults, you still respect her and her decisions, am I correct?"

Amiria nodded, looking down at the coarse blanket underneath her fingers, suddenly finding it much more interesting than Gaius' face.

"I've always wanted to go to Camelot, but I always hoped that Alice and I could go together. She's like a mother to me…Gaius, do you know where she's going?"

"My guess is as good as yours, though I would suspect her to go somewhere in the White Mountains, she has relations there."

Amiria nodded again, and looked at Gaius;

"Well, if Alice is going to be running from the world, then we're going to have to face it for her. When do we leave?"

"Now you be good and mind Gaius, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Alice."

"Watch your tongue, especially around those with connections to the king. _Never_ tell anyone about your magic unless it is a matter of absolute life and death."

"Yes, Alice, I know."

"Don't forget to wash your teeth and bathe regularly, and make sure that you-"

"Alice, I'm going to be fine. I love you, and will see you in a few months time." Amiria hugged the woman that had loved and taught her for the past fifteen years of her life. "Travel safely, poden as estrelas guiar o seu camiño."

"And the same to you," Alice said her goodbyes to everyone else, and the travelers left the little cottage as the sun tentatively poked it's head into the sky.

Turning to Merlin, Amiria asked how long it would take them to reach Camelot.

"Not long, I expect that we should be there by sundown, despite the fact that we don't have horses." Merlin shot a pointed gaze in Gaius' direction, to which the old man laughed and said,

"You need the exercise, it's good for you."

"You say that now, but tomorrow morning you'll be berating me 'Merlin, how did you ever talk me into walking that whole way yesterday?' and I'll say-"

"Yes, Gaius, great and powerful master, it was all my idea."

With the constant banter between the two men that eventually pulled Amiria into the mix, the day seemed to pass in a blur until Gaius suddenly stopped and looked directly at Amiria.

"Now, as I'm sure Alice has already warned you, there are people here in Camelot that will want to kill you if they ever found out about your magic. This is a secret that must be kept at all costs, do you understand me?"

Amiria nodded quietly, looking down at the moss by her feet.

"You will be my niece visiting from an outlying village, alright? And whatever you do, do NOT tell anyone of any relations you might have to Alice, as that will be as sure of a death warrant as turning birds into butterflies in the king's throne room." Gaius cocked his eyebrow at Merlin.

"You can do that?" Amiria looked at the young man in question, enraptured by his apparent skill with an art she knew to be most delicate and complicated. Her wonder increased as he took a beautiful yet simple blue flower and turned it into a graceful butterfly.

"Merlin, not so close to the castle! We don't need a repeat of our little endeavor with the smoke horse, do we?"

The tips of Merlin's ears turned red as he avoided Amiria's curious gaze and Gaius' teacherly glare.

"No," the young warlock mumbled, "that would be very bad." He was suddenly finding his boots quite interesting, despite the fact that they needed to be polished.

"This place has some potential," Amiria stated, gazing up at the looming castle, "I think that it will do just fine."

"That's what I'm here for; making sure Camelot lasts long enough to see its glory days." Said Merlin cheekily, causing both Gaius and Amiria to roll their eyes as the trio continued into the castle.

**A/N- Hi, sorry this took so long to post. I finally got the all-clear from the doctor to skate again (Yay!) which means my free time just took a nose dive. Plus, I have two projects due next week that are being a pain in the assets. As always, a HUGE thank you is owed to all of the people who favorited, subscribed, and reviewed this story; it means more to me than you know. Another big thank you goes to CassieCat, who motivated me to put this chappie up. Until next time…**


	4. Chapter 4: Interesting

**Disclaimer: I own a temperamental computer and lots of homework, and if I owned Merlin, then I would treat myself to a ski vacation in France. As of yet, my butt rests in the South, completely snowless…**

**Interesting**

Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting on long golden hair and making it shimmer and sparkle. The girl who owned this hair stirred slightly, stretching herself out on the small cot and pulling her blanket closer to herself.

Merlin watched her, feeling slightly awkward, but not wanting to wake her, which was what he was sent to do. In sleep, the well disguised fear and insecurity and not so well disguised scrutiny and brashness was replaced by a quiet look of peace that Merlin felt horrible about breaking.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stand there and watch the girl all day, so he went and shook her shoulder.

"Amiria, wake up." No response, "Amiria, come on. Gaius went to go get something for breakfast and will be back soon, you need to get up." Still no response. Desperate for some way to wake Amiria before Gaius came back, Merlin seized a small bowl of water and dumped it over her head.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Yelped Amiria, as she leapt out of the now wet bed, turning to inflict serious bodily harm on whoever had woken her, but quickly put down her upraised first at the sound of footsteps in the hall.

"Good morning, Amiria. I trust you slept well?" Gaius's voice sounded from the door, cooling the hot words on Amiria's tongue.

"Yes, Gaius. Very well thank you."

"Good. Well, go on. Sit down, the both of you. Merlin, when was it that Arthur needed you today?" Gaius inquired, spooning out their breakfast into bowls.

"Midmorning, I think. Why?"

"I was hoping you could show Amiria to Gwen's house, she can stay with her today and get acclimated to the city."

"Yeah, sure; that shouldn't be a problem, as long as we hurry. If I'm late today, Arthur would kill me; or make me clean out the stables again." Merlin made a face at the thought.

"Okay, I underst- OW!" Amiria had been trying to comb through her hair with her fingers, but was getting stuck, and managed to pull out a few hairs after encountering a particularly nasty knot. "Do either of you possess a brush, or are you going to let me pull all of my hair out piece by piece? Never mind that; why must I visit this Gwen you speak of?"

Gaius sighed, "I must attend to matters of the court today, and the presence of a woman would not be welcomed. As unsavory as it is, the lords that will be in attendance today are quite outspoken on the matter of men being better than women, and to humor them we must make accommodations."

Amiria made a face, but then put on a smile, "It is no matter, I should have expected as such. We will have to work together some other time. Is it alright with you if I look for another place of work, so that I may have something to do with myself when you have no need of me, as Merlin does?"

"I don't see why not," Gaius pondered, "but be careful, Camelot can be a dangerous place, for anyone. Don't ever forget that."

Amiria was sure that there was no more majestic and wonderful city than Camelot. Hundreds of people and dozens of shops lined the street filled with merchants and vendors selling their wares; from farm seeds to furniture, it was all here.

"Merlin, look at this! The intricate patterns that they've managed to weave into this are just so… And see here, would you just look at that!"

Merlin was reminded of a small child easily distracted by shiny objects.

"Um, Amiria, Gwen's house is this way. We need to hurry, come on."

Pulling her by the arm, Merlin led the way to Gwen's door and knocked loudly. The door was opened by a young woman with light brown skin, warm caramel eyes, and beautiful black hair that was quite curly.

"Good morning, Merlin. How was your journey with Gaius?"

"Good morning Gwen. Not too bad; we ended up meeting with some of Gaius's family, and they sent his niece Amiria to stay with us in Camelot."

Gwen now took notice of the short blonde girl standing by the door, staring at Gwen with intense brown eyes.

"You're Gwen, I assume?" she asked, looking Gwen over and smiling almost shyly.

"Yes, please come in." and Merlin led the way inside, still pulling on Amiria's arm; a fact that the pair seemed unaware of, but stuck out to Gwen like a sore thumb.

"So are you off to the castle, Merlin?" Gwen inquired, getting down some cups for tea.

"Yeah, Arthur wants me there at midday. Which means that," Merlin looked out of the window "if I don't leave now, I will regret it later." He finally realized he still had a grip on Amiria's arm and let go, flushing bright red. "I will see you ladies later then," and he left with a bow

"Bye, Merlin." The two women called as they stared awkwardly at each other. Finally, Amiria spoke.

"I am terribly sorry about intruding on you like this, did they even tell you I was coming?"

Gwen shook her head, "Of course not."

Amiria giggled, "And why would they? I scarcely imagine it even crossed their minds."

Gwen laughed, "No, it probably didn't."

"So what were you going to do today, before you were pressured into babysitting me?" Amiria inquired, sipping her tea.

"I was going to visit the market," Gwen said as she located the worn coin purse sitting on the mantle. "My mistress wants a new dress, and a large shipment of fabric just came in so I figured I might as well check for something suitable. I also need to visit the baker and the butcher; would you like to come along?"

"O-Of course I would!" Amiria squeaked, struggling to keep her composure and not jump up and down like a little child.

"Alright; grab your cloak so we can get going."

Amiria quickly obeyed, snatching her green cloak from the peg its peg by the door.

"That's a beautiful cloak," Gwen remarked as they left the house, "wherever did you get it?"

The young blonde blushed and pulled her outer garment closer to her body. "It was a gift, from my mentor for my fifteenth winter."

"Really? Your mentor must be a generous person." Gwen stated, looking at the fine craftsmanship of the fabric and the meticulous stitches of the cloak before turning into a vegetable stall.

"Yes, she is quite wonderful. I am going to miss her terribly while I'm here in Camelot."

"You were close, then?"

Amiria nodded, and looked at the asparagus stalks in front of her, blinking away her tears. "What of you and your mistress? She trusts you, obviously, but are you close?"

It was now Gwen's turn to look down, a troubled expression on her face. "We were close but," she sighed, "she was missing for a year and isn't the same person now that she's returned. Before, she was like family, the sister I never had. Now she is a stranger, foreign and cold; I don't know what to do about it."

"Oh, Gwen. I'm so sorry," Amiria reached over and rubbed Gwen's hand, "but I'm sure it will work out in the end."

Gwen had to smile; Amiria was very much like Gaius, she had the same inner sense of calm and tact that allowed her to gain the trust of others.

Gwen was thinking about this as she moved throughout the market with Amiria, observing the way she talked with the vendors about their wares and bargained for a reasonable price, while being fair and honest about it.

There was something else familiar about Amiria physically. Perhaps in the way she moved, or held her head. Either way, Gwen was certain that she had seen someone like her before, maybe even with the exact same nose….

"I think this is everything" Gwen announced as they completed their purchase at one of the numerous stalls selling fabrics of the finest quality. "We should probably head towards the castle; I need to check on the Lady Morgana. The newest serving girl can be a bit incompetent I'm afraid, and milady has quite the temper."

"You filthy ignorant peasant!"

Gwen put her head in her hands and leaned against the wall outside of the Lady Morgana's doorway.

"I should have known that this would end badly…"

"It's not too bad, I think ," Amiria whispered, trying to comfort her. "I'm sure it was just a little something like putting too much sugar into the Lady's tea or-"

"You ruined my best dress with your inability to walk whist carrying a tray! I could find a child to do this, and they would have done a better job than you. You are done! Get out of my chambers and never return again, EVER!"

A serving girl burst out of the door and ran down the hall, her face in her hands as she sobbed. Gwen went into the room and spoke quietly.

"Good afternoon, milady. Do you need something?"

"Yes, no, I don't know. I haven't been sleeping well, Gwen. Not well at all. Plus, these stupid ambassadors with their ridiculous anti-female views always put me on edge."

"Perhaps I should have Gaius send you up a sleeping draft or-"

"No, that is quite unnecessary. I only need- who is this?"

Amiria had tentatively entered after Gwen, and the Lady Morgana was now noticing her standing by the doorway.

"A friend of mine from the outer country, milady; she is staying with me for the next few seasons, I believe. I'm sorry, she shouldn't have intruded." With this, Gwen sent Amiria a pointed look.

"No, that is quite alright Gwen. Tell me, what was your name?" Lady Morgana said, now addressing Amiria.

"Amiria, milady."

"Amiria then, do you work?" Morgana's bright green eyes seemed to be staring holes through the young girl.

"No milady, I do not." Amiria was finding the floor beneath her feet to be very interesting at this point.

"Then you will become my new serving girl and assist Gwen."

"Th-thank you, milady; thank you very much."

"You start immediately. Gwen, please go down to the kitchens and fetch me something to eat; I am quite famished." And with that, the two women were dismissed.

"That was…interesting." Amiria murmured as Gwen lead the way to the kitchens

"I know, but you will get used to it eventually. Interesting things happen around here all of the time."

**A/N: Sorry that this took so long to post! I was intending on writing this earlier, but I had 6 tests and 3 projects due this week in addition to the fact that I was sick :( So anyways, this is dedicated to all of the lovely people who reviewed, favorite, commented, and simply enjoyed the story! Please tell me what you thought, and leave a pretty little comment by clicking that blue button below!**


	5. Chapter 5: Please?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, but I did see a guy who looked like Colin Morgan (OMGosh, he was so CUTE!)**

*****Thank you to all of the wonderfully amazing people who sent in their lovely reviews, subscribed, and favorite this story. Y'all make my day :) *****

**Please?**

"Gaius, what was that infusion you spoke of? The one that cured boils."

"Essence of Sapo. Right bottom shelf."

"Next to the pickled Cerebro de Cabra?"

"Mm,"

Amiria sighed; Merlin had been gone for less than two days, leaving Gaius's home was uncomfortably quiet and the mentor himself even more so.

"So when did Merlin say he was going to be back?" she inquired, wanting to fill up the silence.

"Soon," Gaius replied, not looking up from his book.

Suddenly, there was a great pounding on the door.

"I'll get it!" Amiria sprung from her chair, hastily closing her book and stuffing it under a stack of papers.

"Gwen!" she exclaimed in surprise upon opening the door, "Please, come in. What brings you here at this hour?"

Gwen smiled slightly in greeting, "I was sent to fetch Gaius; my neighbor's wife has gone into labor, and we can't find a midwife. I was hoping he could help."

"When did her contractions begin?" Gaius inquired as he began to collect his medical supplies.

"An hour before sunset, if I remember correctly."

"Alright; Amiria, would you like to come along?"

Amiria's eyes lit up, "May I? I would love to! I mean," she composed herself, "this could be a most interesting learning opportunity, and I am honored that you would request my presence."

Gaius was again reminded of Amiria's mother, Alice, and of her ever present enthusiasm with all things to do with medicine.

"Come along then; we must hurry, she was in a fairly bad state when I left." Gwen said as she led the way to her house.

When the trio arrived at the neighbor's abode, the neighbor's husband was waiting at the door wearing a stony expression.

"You shall not enter." He stated, staring directly at Gaius and blocking the door with his body.

"Please, Ingolemar, see reason." Gwen pleaded, "Gaius can help Albreda-"

"No," Ingolemar said with conviction, "no men are allowed in the birthing room, it is against the laws of nature."

Gaius now stepped forward, "I assure you, I have assisted many births before; I can be of good service."

"The answer is still no; you may be on your way."

Gaius opened his mouth to argue when Amiria spoke.

"I can help, if that would please you."

All eyes turned to the unassuming girl of no more than fifteen winters.

"I lived with a woman physician for most of my life; it's not like I haven't done this before." Already she was rolling up the sleeves on her dress, and taking the medicine bag from Gaius's hands.

"Amiria, are you sure about this?" Gaius whispered into her ear, "If something goes wrong-"

"Then something goes wrong, and there will be nothing I can do about it; I know. Don't worry." She smiled, then turned to face Ingolemar. "Show me to Albreda please. Gwen, you should probably come too."

The gruff man nodded, and led the way inside; though not before turning to glare at Gaius as he closed the front door.

"Gwen, please give her some more of that Sheppard's Purse. Albreda, when I count to three, I need you to push. You're doing very well. One, two, three..."

The sound of Albreda's cries pierced the air as she struggled to bring her child into the world.

To say that this was a difficult birth was an understatement. Amiria and Gwen had been in the same hot and dark room for the past ten hours; giving Albreda as many herbs and tinctures as they dared while attempting not to let worry cloud their voices.

Gwen had gone out at dawn to get more fresh water, and to find someone to look after the Lady Morgana, as she and Amiria were not likely going to be able to leave the house for a good long while. Aside from that, the two women had not left their posts, and they were becoming very tired.

"That was good! I can see the top of its head; give us another big push Albreda, you're almost done."

Unfortunately, Amiria was wrong.

As she pulled the child from its mother's body, she noticed something rather alarming.

"Gwen…" she called, trying hard not to sound scared, "take the baby."

Gwen rushed forward and wrapped the now screaming baby boy in a blanket.

"Let me hold him." Albreda panted from the bed, stretching out her arms for her new son.

"Not quite yet," Amiria told her, finally getting her own emotions under control, "you have one more to go."

Amiria was impressed that Albreda didn't pass out at the news; one baby was terrifying enough, but twins were very rare and very dangerous. Especially when one of the twins was to be delivered upside down, as the second baby was. Not that Amiria was going to tell Albreda that.

"Same as last time, alright? One, two, three, push!" Amiria once again cursed her inability to use magic, knowing that she could have delivered both babies safely hours ago if she were allowed to use it.

Slowly, much too slowly, the second child made its entrance. Bottom first, followed by the rest of its body. Amiria knew that if the baby wasn't all the way out soon, it would die.

"One more time, Albreda, push!" she encouraged, as she guided the child out and into her waiting hands.

It didn't cry.

Standing abruptly, Amiria went over to the table where she had all of her herbs laid out; searching for one that could possibly revive the silent infant.

"Come on little one, you wouldn't almost kill your mother to die on us, would you?" Holding a diluted mixture of smelling salts over the child's face, she waited; clearing out its mouth and hitting its chest to encourage it to take a breath.

Finally, the little thing, a girl, let out a tiny squawk, and began to cry.

Sighing in relief, Amiria swathed the babe and handed her to the waiting mother, but something caught her eye.

"Albreda, I think your daughter-"

But Albreda had already seen for herself; her brand-new daughter had a harelip.

"Take her away," she mumbled, hugging her son closer to her breast.

"Albreda, it's no matter; she can still-"

"Take her away! Please, just-"Albreda's voice cracked as she refused her daughter, as if it broke her heart to do this. It broke Amiria's heart as well, knowing that she would have to be the one responsible for killing the child.

"I will be back," Amiria assured the new mother, finally leaving the hot and dark room.

"Gaius, I don't know what to do! I can't just kill an innocent baby; she didn't ask to be born this way."

"I know, Amiria, but there's nothing you can do for her. Not without-"

"Magic. There's nothing we can for her without magic; which is outlawed in this godforsaken kingdom." Amiria spat, still cradling the child in her arms. "Couldn't we fix her anyways? Say it was-"

"Amiria, please see reason. There is nothing we can do for her now; nothing except ease her passing. Whatever happened to 'If something goes wrong, then something goes wrong, and there is nothing you can do about it'?"

"Nobody ever really pays attention to that Gaius; besides, she's a strong baby. Resilient and tougher than anyone is ready to give her credit for, I imagine. Let me fix her. I'll give her to another family, or raise her as my own, even. Please, Gaius. Please?"

The old healer gave a great sigh, sitting tiredly on a nearby stool.

"Even if I would allow you to keep the child alive, you are not yet strong enough to do the magic necessary to fix her."

"I'll have Merlin help me, then. You know he'll do it."

Gaius could see he was going to lose this round, and finally admitted defeat.

"Alright; if the child lasts until Merlin's return, then he may repair its lip-"

"Thank you Gaius!" Amiria squealed, wrapping her free arm around him in a tight hug before handing the elderly mentor the babe in question. "Could you please watch her while I tend to Albreda? Lovely; thank you. I'll be back soon; I promise."

With that, she turned and exited; leaving Gaius with a small child and a shocked expression.

_It's the 'Please',_ he thought, _I can never resist the please._

"Amiria! Where were you?" Gwen exclaimed as she opened the door of Albreda's house, ushering the young apprentice in.

"I, um, had to take something to Gaius. How is she?" Albreda must not have told Gwen about her harelipped daughter.

"Alright, now that she's resting. She was quite emotional earlier; what happened to the second child, Amiria? I know you delivered another baby, was it…?"

Gwen's voice had dropped to a whisper and she was wringing her hands at the answer she knew was coming.

"Yes, there was nothing I could do for it." Amiria left the implication up for interpretation, knowing that everyone must think the little girl dead.

Gwen nodded and took a breath, "Could you go in and check on Albreda? I need to go home."

"Of course; good day to you, Gwen. Thanks for the help, I really appreciated it.

With that, Gwen left, and Amiria went to Albreda's bedside; mopping her brow and massaging oils into her hands.

Albreda stirred, "Is she…?"

Amiria nodded, and watched in shock as the woman, whom she had just met mere hours before, dissolve in front of her eyes.

"I would have kept her, done my best by her, loved her completely, but I knew my husband wouldn't stand for it. 'There will be other children' he would say, then kill her himself, and I couldn't make him do that. Please, forgive me."

"I understand, but worry not. I'm sure your daughter will be alright, wherever is." Amiria spoke quietly, knowing that the child's father must never know she existed, and that her mother think her gone.

"Thank you, Amiria. My family is in debt to you, forever and always. If you need anything…"

Amiria nodded, then smiled slightly; glad that she had made a new friend.

"You were out drinking?"

"Not necessarily; more like, Arthur wanted to start drinking, and I tagged along."

"Then you got into a bar fight."

"It wasn't intentional! It just kind of… happened. Really Gaius, I didn't mean to- Amiria, what a wonderful diversion! How've you been?"

Amiria smacked Merlin's arm for the diversion comment before giving him a hug.

"Fine until last night. What's this about you drinking and getting into a bar fight?"

The ends of Merlin's ears went red and he indignantly answered, "I wasn't drinking! And I didn't initiate the bar fight, that was Arthur. The owner of the tavern we were at was being harassed, so Mr. High and Mighty decided he needed to save the day, which almost got him killed. If it hadn't been for the guy upstairs, we would have been animal feed."

"There's a guy upstairs?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded, "I think Gaius went to go check on him.

"That's quite a story." Amiria said as she sat down heavily, rubbing her temples.

"Nothing compared to how your day has been I hear. Speaking of which, Gaius said you needed me to do you a favor. It wouldn't have anything to do with that baby he's carrying around, would it? Tell me everything."

Amiria smiled sheepishly and shook her head at the older apprentice that always acted so childlike.

"I had to deliver a baby- two babies, actually- sometime this morning. This was after a full day at Morgana's beck and call, followed by almost twelve hours of labor."

Merlin set down a cup of sympathy tea and some bread before sitting across from Amiria at the small dining table.

"Anyways," she continued, "the second child, the girl, has a harelip. Her mother can't take care of her because of the father, so she gave her to me to get rid of. I couldn't do it, so I brought her here and am hoping that you can fix her. Please, Merlin," Amiria grabbed his hand from across the table and squeezed it tightly, looking directly into his eyes, "it's not her fault she's different. "

It was the please that did it. The please that made Amiria sound like her heart would break if he didn't agree.

"Of course I'll do it, bring me the child."

**A/N: Hello chapter that came out of freaking NOWHERE and wrote itself, nice to meet you. For those of you confused, a harelip is another name for a cleft lip. Before recent medical advancements, most children born with one were either killed or ended up starving to death because it was extremely hard for them to eat. The idea of the cleft lip and someone fixing it with magic came from the 4****th**** Eragon book, Inheritance, so all credit on that part goes to the totally awesome Christopher Paolini.**

**I am currently looking for a Beta, for this and my other story, A Change of Plans, so if you're interested, or have a comment/concern TELL ME with the little blue button below :)**


End file.
